#Virander Sarohi

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It Started With Just 7 Friends And After 4 years It Became A Family Of 19k: Virander Sarohi's Bangalore Trekking Club (BTC)

We have been seeing quite a revolution in the recent years with youngsters coming forward to start communities, clubs and organisations to help fellow people in need. While most of their weekdays are occupied with college and office, their weekends are all the more different. Instead of lazying around on the couch and hitting a bunch of those TV remote buttons, they choose to walk in the glory of nature and not the “Four walls”.

We caught up with Virander Sarohi, founder of Bangalore Trekking Club (BTC), one of the largest sports/adventures sports community in Bangalore to know more about the activities of BTC and how it all began.

Bangalore Trekking Club ( BTC) is a non-profit organization which was founded in the year 2013 by Virander Sarohi along with a bunch of his friends. The main motive of this group was to bring in fellow trekking enthusiasts, be a point of contact for them and start to organize treks together. What started as a trekking community with just 7 people soon grew into an organization of 19000 members in just 4 years. Today they also organize events for Biking, Cycling and Running.

The Organizers of the Bangalore Trekking Club

BTC has grown quite unexpectedly. Four years ago we were just 7 guys and today it is around 19000. Now we have more responsibility in organizing the events and we need to plan accordingly.

says Virander about BTC’s mammoth growth in the past years. He also recalls the first trek that BTC organized back in 2013 to Anthargange, Karnataka. Currently, they have about 30 organizers in the community who are solely responsible for creating, scheduling and organizing the events.

Virander, a software engineer working for NS technologies says that BTC is driven only by volunteers who work full time with tech companies like HP, Dell, etc. Taking a break from their daily routine of office hours and engaging themselves in refreshing activities planned by the group during the weekends de-stresses them and ensures they stay with a positive outlook. Every weekend they almost plan around 4-5 events.

Check out: Meet the President of this Bengaluru-based NGO sparking sports in the lives of underprivileged kids

BTC recently organized the BTC Countryside Run on January 22, 2017 in association with two other NGO’s namely Rupee for Humanity and SayTrees. The Run started off at Decathlon, Sarjapur and featured 3 formats 3k,5k ad 10k formats. This marathon was an initiative to raise funds for the NGOs SayTrees, Liter of light and Rupee for humanity. BTC is also involved in many social awareness initiatives like clean-ups at Skandagiri and Makalidurga.

Clean up activities as part of the BTC community

BTC has various treks scheduled right from a “One-day” trek to the most toughest Himalayan treks. The beginner treks start off with the “One-day” event. Until and unless you complete the one-day trek you are not allowed to proceed to the “Two-day” trek as per the organization rules. They also maintain the records of every member part of their community and the events will be tagged to the respective names. The “one-day” trek events are scheduled around Bangalore namely, Horagina Betta, Ramnagara and Shivgange. BTC also follows strict rules that should be adhered by every member of the group.

Happy members of the BTC Trek

We follow strict policies. If we have planned the event at 10.30 am, we’ll start exactly and even if you are a minute late you would be missing it. If you had registered for an event and if you drop-out without informing, you will be banned for 3 months. Smoking and Drinking during the trek will land you in a life ban.

explains Virander, about the BTC rules and policies that are to be followed by every participant. Trekking has been trending in the past few days with the number of software jobs on the rise, people want to go out into the wild and detox themselves. No matter in which part of the world we exist, there will always be a spot to wander about and enjoy nature. So why should you trek? This is what Virander had to say:

Trekking has a lot of health benefits. You just dive into the nature. With the level of pollution rising up at an alarming rate in the cities, when you go for a trek you feel refreshed. 5 days at work and 2 days in the wilderness will be a good balance. Moreover when you come back and work, the productivity also increases.

Be a part of the Bangalore Trekking Club

If you want to be a part of the Bangalore Trekking Club community, you can log in to their website bangaloretrekkingclub.com and register yourself today. Become a part of one of the largest communities in the city and have fun trekking with your folks. 

Also watch out for the BTC Countryside Run which will be happening every November and the Annual Badminton tournament organized by BTC.

Also read: A Radio Jockey on weekdays and a Social Activist on weekends, Namm Radio’s Raaj has his Sundays reserved for Marathons